Analysis Of The Chapter The general subject of this chapter Hebrews 10 is the sacrifice which Christ has made for sin, and the consequences which flow from the fact, that he has made a sufficient atonement. In chapter IX. the apostle had shown that the Jewish rites were designed to be temporary and... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE LAW HAVING A SHADOW - That is, the whole of the Mosaic economy was a shadow; for so the word “Law” is often used. The word “shadow” here refers to a rough outline of anything, a mere sketch, such as a carpenter draws with a piece of chalk, or such as an artist delineates when he is about to... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THEN WOULD THEY NOT HAVE CEASED TO BE OFFERED? - Margin, “Or they would have.” The sense is the same. The idea is, that the very fact that they were repeated showed that there was some deficiency in them as to the matter of cleansing the soul from sin. If they had answered all the purposes of a... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT IN THOSE SACRIFICES THERE IS A REMEMBRANCE AGAIN MADE OF SINS EVERY YEAR - The reference here is to the sacrifices made on the great day of atonement. This occurred once in a year. Of course as often as a sacrifice was offered, it was an acknowledgment of guilt on the part of those for whom it w... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR IT IS NOT POSSIBLE THAT THE BLOOD OF BULLS AND OF GOATS SHOULD TAKE AWAY SINS - The reference here is to the sacrifices which were made on the great day of the atonement, for on that day the blood of bulls and of goats alone was offered; see the notes on Hebrews 9:7. Paul here means to say, doub... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE - This word shows that the apostle means to sustain what he had said by a reference to the Old Testament itself. Nothing could be more opposite to the prevailing Jewish opinions about the efficacy of sacrifice, than what he had just said. It was, therefore, of the highest importance to def... [ Continue Reading ]
IN BURNT-OFFERINGS AND SACRIFICES FOR SIN THOU HAST HAD NO PLEASURE - This is not quoted literally from the Psalm, but the sense is retained. The reading there is, “burnt-offering and sin-offering hast thou not required.” The quotation by the apostle is taken from the Septuagint, with the change of... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SAID I - “I the Messiah.” Paul applies this directly to Christ, showing that he regarded the passage in the Psalms as referring to him as the speaker. LO, I COME - Come into the world; Hebrews 10:5. It is not easy to see how this could be applied to David in any circumstance of his life. There... [ Continue Reading ]
ABOVE WHEN HE SAID - That is, the Messiah. The word “above” refers here to the former part of the quotation. That is, “having in the former part of what was quoted said that God did not require sacrifices, in the latter part he says that he came to do the will of God in the place of them.” SACRIFIC... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SAID HE - In another part of the passage quoted. When he had said that no offering which man could make would avail, then he said that he would come himself. HE TAKETH AWAY THE FIRST - The word “first” here refers to sacrifices and offerings. He takes them away; that is, he shows that they are... [ Continue Reading ]
BY THE WHICH WILL - That is, by his obeying God in the manner specified. It is in virtue of his obedience that we are sanctified. The apostle immediately specifies what he means, and furnishes the key to his whole argument, when he says that it was “through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ.”... [ Continue Reading ]
AND EVERY PRIEST STANDETH DAILY MINISTERING - That is, this is done every day. It does not mean literally that every priest was daily concerned in offering sacrifices, for they took turns according to their courses, (notes on Luke 1:5), but that this was done each day, and that every priest was to t... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THIS MAN - The Lord Jesus. The word “man” is not in the original here. The Greek is literally “but this;” to wit, this priest. The apostle does not state here whether he was a man, or a being of a higher order. He merely mentions him as a priest in contradistinction from the Jewish priests. AFT... [ Continue Reading ]
FROM HENCEFORTH EXPECTING - Or waiting. He waits there until this shall be accomplished according to the promise made to him that all things shall be subdued under him; see the notes on 1 Corinthians 15:25. TILL HIS ENEMIES - There is an allusion here to Psalms 110:1, where it is said, “The Lord sai... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR BY ONE OFFERING - By offering himself once on the cross. The Jewish priest offered his sacrifices often, and still they did not avail to put away sin; the Saviour made one sacrifice, and it was sufficient for the sins of the world. HE HATH PERFECTED FOREVER - He hath laid the foundation of the e... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREOF THE HOLY GHOST IS A WITNESS TO US - That is, the Holy Spirit is a proof of the truth of the position here laid down - that the one atonement made by the Redeemer lays the foundation for the eternal perfection of all who are sanctified. The witness of the Holy Spirit here referred to is what... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW WHERE REMISSION OF THESE IS - Remission or forgiveness of sins; that is, of the sins mentioned in the previous verse. THERE IS NO MORE OFFERING FOR SIN - If those sins are wholly blotted out, there is no more need of sacrifice to atone for them, any more than there is need to pay a debt again wh... [ Continue Reading ]
HAVING THEREFORE, BRETHREN - The apostle, in this verse, enters on the hortatory part of his Epistle, which continues to the end of it. He had gone into an extensive examination of the Jewish and Christian systems; he had compared the Founders of the two - Moses and the Son of God, and shown how far... [ Continue Reading ]
BY A NEW AND LIVING WAY - By a new method or manner. It was a mode of access that was till then unknown. No doubt many were saved before the Redeemer came, but the method by which they approached God was imperfect and difficult. The word which is rendered here “new” - πρόσφατον prosphaton - occurs... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HAVING AN HIGH PRIEST OVER THE HOUSE OF GOD - Over the spiritual house of God; that is, the church; compare the notes on Hebrews 3:1. Under the Jewish dispensation there was a great high priest, and the same is true under the Christian dispensation. This the apostle had shown at length in the pr... [ Continue Reading ]
LET US DRAW NEAR WITH A TRUE HEART - In prayer and praise; in every act of confidence and of worship. A sincere heart was required under the ancient dispensation; it is always demanded of people when they draw near to God to worship him; see John 4:23. Every form of religion which God has revealed r... [ Continue Reading ]
LET US HOLD FAST THE PROFESSION OF OUR FAITH WITHOUT WAVERING - To secure this was one of the leading designs of this Epistle, and hence, the apostle adverts to it so frequently. It is evident that those whom he wrote were suffering persecution Hebrews 12, and that there was great danger that they w... [ Continue Reading ]
AND LET US CONSIDER ONE ANOTHER - Let us so regard the welfare of others as to endeavor to excite them to persevere in the Christian life. The idea is, that much might be done, in securing perseverance and fidelity, by mutual kind exhortation. They were not to be selfish; they were not to regard the... [ Continue Reading ]
NOT FORSAKING THE ASSEMBLING OF OURSELVES TOGETHER - That is, for purposes of public worship. Some expositors have understood the word rendered here as “assembling” - ἐπισυναγωγὴν episunagōgēn - as meaning “the society of Christians,” or the church; and they have supposed that the object of the... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR IF WE SIN WILLFULLY AFTER THAT WE HAVE RECEIVED THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH - If after we are converted and become true Christians we should apostatize, it would be impossible to be recovered again, for there would be no other sacrifice for sin; no way by which we could be saved. This passage, ho... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT A CERTAIN FEARFUL LOOKING FOR OF JUDGMENT - The word “certain” here does not mean “fixed, sure, inevitable,” as our translation would seem to imply. The Greek is the same as “a (τις tis) fearful expectation,” etc. So it is rendered by Tyndale. The idea is, that if there was voluntary apostasy af... [ Continue Reading ]
HE THAT DESPISED MOSES’ LAW - That is, the apostate from the religion of Moses. It does not mean that in all cases the offender against the Law of Moses died without mercy, but only where offences were punishable with death, and probably the apostle had in his eye particularly the case of apostasy f... [ Continue Reading ]
OF HOW MUCH SORER PUNISHMENT, SUPPOSE YE, SHALL HE BE THOUGHT WORTHY - That is, he who renounces Christianity ought to be regarded as deserving a much severer punishment than the man who apostatized from the Jewish religion, and if he ought to be so regarded he will be - for God will treat every man... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR WE KNOW HIM THAT HATH SAID - We know who has said this - God. They knew this because it was recorded in their own sacred books. VENGEANCE BELONGETH UNTO ME ... - This is found in Deuteronomy 32:35; see it explained in the notes on Romans 12:19. It is there quoted to show that we should not aven... [ Continue Reading ]
IT IS A FEARFUL THING TO FALL INTO THE HANDS OF THE LIVING GOD - There may be an allusion here to the request of David to “fall into the hands of the Lord and not into the hands of men,” when it was submitted to him for the sin of numbering the people, whether he would choose seven years of famine,... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT CALL TO REMEMBRANCE THE FORMER DAYS - It would seem from this, that at the time when the apostle wrote this Epistle they were suffering some severe trials, in which they were in great danger of apostatizing from their religion. It is also manifest that they had on some former occasion endured a... [ Continue Reading ]
PARTLY - That is, your affliction consisted partly in this. The Greek is, “this” - specifying one kind of affliction that they were called to endure. WHILST YE WERE MADE A GAZING-STOCK - Greek θεατριζόμενοι theatrizomenoi - you were made a public spectacle, as if in a theater; you were held up to p... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR YE HAD COMPASSION OF ME IN MY BONDS - You sympathized with me when a prisoner, and sent to my relief. It is not known to what particular instance of imprisonment the apostle here refers. It is probable, however, that it was on some occasion when he was a prisoner in Judea, for the persons to who... [ Continue Reading ]
CAST NOT AWAY THEREFORE YOUR CONFIDENCE - Greek “your boldness;” referring to their confident hope in God. They were not to cast this away, and to become timid, disheartened, and discouraged. They were to bear up manfully under all their trials, and to maintain a steadfast adherence to God and to hi... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR YE HAVE NEED OF PATIENCE - They were then suffering, and in all trials we have need of patience. We have need of it because there is in us so much disposition to complain and repine; because our nature is liable to sink under sufferings; and because our trials are often protracted. All that Chri... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR YET A LITTLE WHILE - There seems to be an allusion here to what the Saviour himself said, “A little while, and ye shall not see me; and again, a little while and ye shall see me;” John 16:16. Or more probably it may be to Habakkuk 2:3. “For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH - This is a part of the quotation from Habakkuk Habakkuk 2:3, which was probably commenced in the previous verse; see the passage fully explained in the notes on Romans 1:17. The meaning in the connection in which it stands here, in accordance with the sense in which... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT WE ARE NOT OF THEM ... - We who are true Christians do not belong to such a class. In this the apostle expresses the fullest conviction that none of those to whom he wrote would apostatize. The case which he had been describing was only a supposable case, not one which he believed would occur. H... [ Continue Reading ]